Twitter Getting $22 Mil Tax Break for Helping Charities Tweet

When Twitter, one of San Francisco's flagship startups, threatened to ditch the city over tax complaints a couple years back, the city caved. Twitter received a giant break, in exchange for a promise to help the struggling neighborhood around its office. Did it? Sort of.

Even as San Francisco faced a blighted budget and an increasing poverty crisis, it was willing to let Twitter legally shirk its payroll tax responsibility, if it did the following:

S

Many of those are vague enough to skirt with ease, and it seems like Twitter has, Justine Sherrock at BuzzFeed points out. In the progress report below, Twitter mentions how (and to what extent) it's satisfied the above community goals. It's done some concrete, cash-on-the-table good:

• Two paid days off for volunteering per employee
• $60,000 per year given to local charities
• 40 computers donated to local students
• 30+ hours pro bono legal work

There have also been some less significant gestures, like four Twitter employees joining the boards of local charities (who know that entails?) and the creation of this inspirational website.

Some efforts are totally misleading: Twitter vowed to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars at "local" businesses for things like catering. It claims it did?because it sources food for its delicious cafeteria from farms up to 50 miles away. I don't think that's what San Francisco had in mind.

Finally, a large?some might say unreasonably so!?portion of Twitter's community service campaign has been self-serving. The company says it's "donated" $55,000 in promoted tweets to local non-profits, and sent its staff to train local charities... in the most effective use of Twitter. Yes, promoted tweets are free advertising for a good cause. And yes, "training" these groups with "recommendations on how to make social media more integral to a group's success" is potentially helpful, if they don't already know how to use Twitter.

But is spreading the use of your company's product really charitable? This isn't like Aquafina handing out free bottled water?it's in Twitter's interest to get entities, non-profit or otherwise, hooked on Twitter. As opposed to, say, Facebook. Sherrock notes some of the companies that received gratis promoted tweets only netted 30 new followers, or 27 replies?would these same groups rather taken a few thousand dollars worth of Twitter advertising, or just a few thousand dollars? It costs Twitter a hell of a lot less to get everyone high on its own supply instead of cutting a check.

Most importantly: is this a fair swap for not having to pay the same taxes as everyone else? Why is Twitter different?

I've reached out to Twitter's press office and its San Francisco community liason, Jenna Sampson, and have yet to hear back.

Source: http://valleywag.gawker.com/twitter-getting-22-mil-tax-break-for-helping-charities-925157205

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New pictures leak comparing Apple iPhone Lite and Apple iPhone 5

1. JojoGo101 posted on yesterday, 23:54 0

I'm really curious about the specs they put on this cheaper model.

8. Berzerk000 posted on 4 hours ago 0

It has to be at least that of the iPhone 4S but with 1 GB of RAM, or else it will fail.

9. Nathan_ingx posted on 3 hours ago 0

Nada, i don't iPhone lite will have 1GB RAM...
That will kill iPhone 4(S) customers.

13. Berzerk000 posted on 3 hours ago 1

But iOS 7 needs 1 GB of RAM now because it finally supports multitasking, even Apple knows that. If they put less than that, then they are intentionally putting a drawback on their users.

19. Nathan_ingx posted on 1 hour ago 0

How will you explain iOS 7 coming to 4S then?

20. Berzerk000 posted on 43 min ago 0

That's exactly what I mean. My friend has had iOS 7 on his 4S since release, and it lags consistently. I know it's still in beta, but it hasn't gotten any better even with 2 new updates. A true multitasking OS just can't run smoothly on 512 MB of RAM without clearing out background processes constantly.

22. Nathan_ingx posted on 22 min ago 0

But it did come right? Just not so optimized...
1GB ram on iPhone lite...hm...we'll see, but i'll be skeptical.

24. Berzerk000 posted on 11 min ago 0

But the thing is that Apple couldn't have anticipated the drastic change iOS 7 would bring at the time of the 4S, so they couldn't have given the 4S what it needed, but they can with the Lite.

25. Nathan_ingx posted on 1 min ago 0

Well, atleast i can give Android some credit here.

11. KingKurogiii posted on 3 hours ago 0

it would have to be more like the 5 to be able to support LTE in the "Apple Proper" way and also i think an iPhone "Lite" really messes with Apple's model of just being able to move down the last gen iPhone to the mid range category which i think worked really well for them however this could work if this ends up just being an inexpensively built iPhone 5. so then they could fill the mid range category with both this and the 5 but they'll be able to offer trade-offs for each other, price vs. quality without specs having to be thrown in. if they were the Lite would probably lose considering how cheap you can get an iPhone 5 nowadays.

12. thelegend6657 posted on 3 hours ago 0

I think iPhone lite is 4S replacement in the mid range world

14. Berzerk000 posted on 3 hours ago 0

I didn't like how the previous gen iPhone was their mid range model, because after 1 or 2 software updates they are severely behind in features compared to the newest generation products. It's a big middle finger to those who buy previous gen devices. If Apple can make a mid range device alongside their flagship while giving it the same software features, that would be a much better deal for people who can't buy the high end model.

2. Dingy_cellar_dweller posted on yesterday, 23:56 1

The yellow one looks like it has a cheap $2 ebay case on it.

3. tiara6918 posted on yesterday, 23:58 1

IPhone lite looks likea cheap toy, I even prefer the look of the older iPod touch more

4. wendygarett posted on 4 hours ago 1

Apple iPhone? I have a little times for this :)
but wait 4g connectivity? iMpossible...

5. xperiaDROID posted on 4 hours ago 3

Comparing the iPhone Lite with the iPhone 5.

It's like comparing a mustard flavored soap with a smartphone.

6. wendygarett posted on 4 hours ago 3

+1 for the mustard flavored soup :)

7. TripnCNT posted on 4 hours ago 0

I don't understand why apple would even consider making an iphone with that cheap aesthetic material, unless of course it is more likely to be aimed at 3rd world countries.

23. Rocksteady posted on 22 min ago 0

Furthermore, They are planning to block Whatsapp and Skype, no need to get mobile phones, will be back soon to sending messages via pigeons.

10. mas11 posted on 3 hours ago 0

With all of these leaks I'm actually starting to believe a 4.3" iPhone is possible. They will use the iPhone lite to maintain their one-handed usability stance and market the 5S as the premium device.

15. KingKurogiii posted on 2 hours ago 0

they won't change the screen size again for a long while.
third party developers for Apple products are still wheeling off of the bump to 4.0".

16. DONUT posted on 2 hours ago 0

i know its suppose to be a cheaper iPhone but sheesh that cover looks beyond cheap

17. dspkblympkbl posted on 2 hours ago 0

Are they thieving off of HTC with the white strips across the back of the phone?

21. Fuego84 posted on 35 min ago 0

It's one thing to be cheap in price but cheap in materials sucks. HTC One is premium material cheap price only $599 cheaper than galaxy s4 and only $20 more than galaxy s3.

Source: http://www.phonearena.com/news/New-pictures-leak-comparing-Apple-iPhone-Lite-and-Apple-iPhone-5_id45516

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[News] Apple acquires local business data startup Locationary

Apple may not have said much about the issues with iOS's Maps at last month's Worldwide Developers Conference, but the company is clearly still working on improving the service. Case in point: its recent acquisition of Toronto-based Locationary, which the company confirmed to AllThingsD on Friday. Both the startup's team and the technology are reportedly part of the deal.

Locationary?is?a startup that's focused on improving data about local businsesses. It pulls location information from a variety of sources, then aggregates and reconciles it, ensuring that the data provided to users is complete and up-to-date. That way, you don't drive an hour out of your way to hit that great restaurant that actually closed six months ago.

That's of particular importance to Apple, whose mapping service continues to suffer from incomplete or inaccurate local data. (As an anecdotal point, this week I spent fifteen minutes wandering around a nearby town trying to find a doctor's office that was most assuredly not where Apple Maps claimed it was.)

Interestingly, Locationary CEO and founder Grant Ritchie penned a piece at TechCrunch last fall, detailing "5 Big Map App Issues Apple Must Solve."?The article focused on the difficulty of handling point-of-interest information, including the challenges and complications that arise from non-standard information, merging data sources, and aggregating local data--all issues that Locationary purports to solve. It's certainly not outside of the realm of possibility that this article came to the attention of folks in Cupertino.

This is far from the first mapping company that Apple has picked up in the past few years. In March, the company acquired WiFiSlam, a service that allows for indoor mapping. (Google this week updated its own Maps program for iOS with indoor maps for some locations.) Prior to launching Apple Maps, the company picked up a handful of location-related firms, including Placebase, Poly9, and C3 Technologies.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has apologized for the company's lackluster mapping solution, and promised that Apple is working to improve it. But Apple has been surprisingly quiet about those improvements--the announced changes to iOS 7 mentioned nothing new on the Maps front; indeed, the only mention of Maps at all in June's keynote was that the app is arriving on OS X in the forthcoming Mavericks. Given the extremely public nature of Maps's failings, Apple may need to spend some more time talking about what it's done to beef up the service, especially if it wants to sway users from competitors like Google Maps.

Source: http://www.pcworld.in/news/apple-acquires-local-business-data-startup-locationary-102422013

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Obama's Surprise Speech on Race: 'Trayvon Could Have Been Me 35 Years Ago'

During the White House's daily press briefing, usually conducted solely by press secretary Jay Carney, President Obama himself came to the podium ostensibly to address the Trayvon Martin verdict. "When Trayvon Martin was first shot," he said, "I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago."

RELATED: Why Obama Can't Talk About Race

The focus of Obama's remarks was actually less about Martin than it was about the racial climate in which Martin was shot and in which the man that shot him was found not guilty of any crime. While he explicitly offered no critique of that verdict, he also clearly understood the response.

There are, frankly, very few African-American men who haven't had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars. That happens to me, at least before I was a senator. There are very few African-Americans who haven't had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off. That happens often. And I don't want to exaggerate this, but those sets of experiences inform how the African-American community interprets what happened one night in Florida.

Acknowledging higher crime rates in the black community, he continued. "Folks understand the challenges that exist for African-American boys, but they get frustrated, I think, if they feel there's no context. And that context is being denied."

RELATED: Yep, 'Uppity' Is Racist

Reactions to that idea were mixed online.

The president's comments weren't focused on policy proposals but, it seemed, on giving the case that missing context. He offered some ideas for how the federal government might ameliorate some of the tensions it exposed.

RELATED: Rick Perry, Your Trayvon Martin Tweet Doesn't Mean What You Think It Means

• First, have the Justice Department work with state and city elected officials to try and reduce mistrust in local law enforcement. Specifically, how to decrease racial profiling in the system.
• Second, reconsider legislation like "stand your ground" which encouraged the confrontation. He largely echoed the attorney general's comments earlier this week. "I just ask people to consider," he said, "if Trayvon Martin was of age and armed, could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk?"
• Third, think about how to embrace and strengthen the community of young, male African-Americans ??to his introductory point. How, he asked, can celebrities and authority figures "figure out how are we doing a better job helping young African-American men feel that they're a full part of this society and that they've got pathways and avenues to succeed."

The speech ended on a hopeful note. "Things are getting better." Talking to his daughters, he sees that "they're better than we are. They're better on these issues." He concluded:

[W]e should also have confidence that kids these days have more sense than we did back then ? certainly more than our parents did or our grandparents did ? and that along this long, difficult journey, we are becoming a more perfect union. Not a perfect union. But a more perfect union.

Some online commenters likened Obama's statement to his March 2008 speech on race, which is below.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obamas-surprise-speech-race-trayvon-could-35-years-180500516.html

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TSA expands faster screening to more travelers

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The government is expanding the ways airline passengers can enroll in an expedited screening program that allows travelers to leave on their shoes, light outerwear and belts and keep laptop computers in cases at security checkpoints.

Under the Transportation Security Administration's Precheck program, only travelers who were members of the frequent flyer programs of some air carriers were eligible for expedited screening. On Friday, TSA Administrator John Pistole said beginning later this year U.S. citizens will be able to enroll online or visit an enrollment site to provide identification, fingerprints and an $85 enrollment fee.

About 12 million people are currently enrolled in the program. Pistole said he expects about another 3 million people to enroll before the end of the year.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-07-19-Airline%20Passengers-Screening/id-21577545c9e345d9b00476e6b256bf97

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Mursi supporters rally in Egypt, no signs of compromise

By Alexander Dziadosz and Ulf Laessing

CAIRO (Reuters) - Thousands of supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi gathered in Cairo on Friday for a rally to demand the restoration of the ousted Islamist, with his opponents also planning protests nearby.

More than two weeks after Egypt's powerful military shunted the contested Mursi from office, there was still no sign of a possible deal to defuse the crisis, which has divided the world's most populous Arab state and alarmed its Western allies.

The Muslim Brotherhood has called for demonstrations around the country, accusing the head of the armed forces, General Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, of staging a coup to sweep Egypt's first freely elected president from power.

The army said it had to intervene after mammoth street protests against Mursi, who was criticized as incompetent and partisan, and has installed an interim cabinet to prepare for elections. It includes no members of Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood or other Islamist parties previously in government.

Mursi backers have set up a round-the-clock vigil outside a mosque in the Cairo suburb of Nasr City. Thousands of sympathizers flocked to the site on Friday to join protests that normally gather momentum after noon prayers.

"Tonight, tonight, tonight, Sisi is going down tonight," a man shouted out, leading the chants.

A huge banner showed a picture of the bearded Mursi against Egyptian flags and read: "Together to support legitimacy."

Egypt's closest Western ally, the United States, has tried to tread softly through the crisis, still undecided whether to brand the downfall of Mursi a military coup - a move that would force Washington to suspend its large aid programs for Cairo.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry telephoned Egypt's new foreign minister, Nabil Fahmy, expressing hopes that the transitional period of government would be successful, a spokesman for the Egyptian foreign ministry said on Friday.

CHAOS

In his first address since taking office, interim President Adli Mansour promised on Thursday night to fight people he said wanted to destabilize the nation.

"We are going through a critical stage and some want us to move towards chaos and we want to move towards stability. Some want a bloody path," he said in a televised address. "We will fight a battle for security until the end."

Tamarud, the youth movement which organized enormous anti-Mursi protests on June 30, is also planning rallies on Friday, including one close to the Muslim Brotherhood's Nasr City vigil.

It dubbed its protests as "the people against terrorism", blaming Mursi followers for recent violence.

Policing was intensified on Friday and 10 armored personnel carriers were parked on a Nile bridge in central Cairo, a route Islamist protesters would have to cross if they tried to reach Tahrir Square, a focal point for the anti-Mursi camp.

At least 99 people have died in violence since Mursi's removal, more than half of them when troops fired on Islamist protesters outside a Cairo barracks on July 8.

Muslim Brotherhood leaders say they will not resort to violence in their campaign to reinstate Mursi, held by the army incommunicado since July 3, and insist they will not back down.

"The goal of our peaceful mass rallies and peaceful sit-ins in squares across Egypt is to force the coup plotters to reverse their action and force the coup supporters to change their position," Essam el-Erian, a senior Brotherhood official, said on his Facebook page.

"Egypt will be free and independent," he wrote.

(Additional reporting by Maggie Fick and Yasmine Saleh; Writing by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-president-promises-fight-chaos-pro-mursi-rallies-061427456.html

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Miranda Lambert: Not Pregnant or Getting Divorced!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/07/miranda-lambert-not-pregnant-or-getting-divorced/

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WATCH: Snail facials are all the rage in Japan

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.kwhn.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=104673&article=11490165

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China's economy slows for second straight quarter, testing reforms

Economy

Dhara Ranasinghe CNBC

July 15, 2013 at 7:54 AM ET

Ng Han Guan / AP

A Chinese man rides a delivery bike past a propaganda bill board with the words "China, Forward!" in Beijing, China, Monday, July 15, 2013.

China's economic growth in the second quarter of the year may not have slowed as much as some had feared, but a large degree of uncertainty about the outlook for the world's second biggest economy remains, strategists say.

Data on Monday showed the Chinese economy grew 7.5 percent year on year in the June quarter, in line with expectations, but down from 7.7 percent in first three months of the year to mark the second straight quarter of slowing growth.

"Who knows if 7.5 percent [growth] is sustainable? It really is a question of watching the data and where it stabilizes is what's important for the market," Simon Warner, head of macro markets at AMP Capital, told CNBC Asia's "Cash Flow."

(Read More: Just how low will China allow growth to go?)

"We have a real situation in China where nobody really knows where Chinese growth is going to settle down in the coming quarters," he added.

The China gross domestic product (GDP) data bought some relief to markets, which had braced for a weaker-than-forecast number after recent data sparked fears of a sharp slowdown in growth.

Asian stock markets were a touch firmer after the GDP release, while the China-data sensitive Australian dollar hit a session high of about $0.9109.

(Read More: Why aren't markets rallying over China's GDP?)

In a statement, the China statistics bureau said economic performance in the first half was stable, with economic indicators within a reasonable range.

New Premier Li Keqiang has been prominent in pushing for economic reform over fast-line growth, suggesting the government is in no rush to offer fresh stimulus to revive an economy in a protracted slowdown.

With the latest GDP data, China's growth has slowed down in nine of the last 10 quarters.

The government's official growth target for 2013 is 7.5 percent, impressive by world standards but it would be the slowest pace in 23 years for China.

The main worry for China's leaders is if the economic slowdown leads to high unemployment that could spark social unrest. So far government officials say employment is stable.

So for now, economists do not see any major stimulus or policy shift and instead expect the government to tough out the slowdown as they pursue a longer-term vision of reforming the economy towards consumer-led, rather than export- and investment-led growth.

(Read More: Why China delivered such a big miss in trade data)

China's full-year growth was 7.8 percent in 2012 and the government targets growth of 7.5 percent for 2013, which would be the slowest in 23 years, according to Reuters.

Analysts at Nomura said that while they maintained their 2013 GDP forecast of 7.5 percent, they had lowered their 2014 forecast to 6.9 percent from 7.5 percent after Monday's GDP report ? partly on an expectation that China's government would lower its official growth forecast for next year.

"In the U.S. we can't predict what's going to happen in three months' time and here we have folks saying growth will be 7.5 percent," said Bill Smead, CEO at Smead Capital Management. "And that's fantastic but I'd like to take them [policymakers] into some other arena so I could make some money out of their ability to predict things so exactly."

Last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) highlighted slowing Chinese growth as one of the three main threats to global economic growth.

? By CNBC.Com's Dhara Ranasinghe; follow her on Twitter @DharaCNBC. Reuters contributed to this report.

More business news:

Follow NBCNews.com business on Twitter and Facebook

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Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663286/s/2ead2c3e/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cbusiness0Cchinas0Eeconomy0Eslows0Esecond0Estraight0Equarter0Etesting0Ereforms0E6C10A6360A0A2/story01.htm

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BlkButtafly commented on Eleven8's blog post RGIII Texts His Side Piece On His Wedding Day

Although Robert Griffin III of the Washington Redskins recently tied the knot with his longtime girlfriend, it looks like he may not have been entirely faithful. Text messages posted by a VCU student (Meredith) show that not only has RGIII been messing around on his fianc?, he was texting the side piece on his wedding day! What makes the story even worse is that the girl tried to take the story back by saying it was all lies, yet leaked more photos in the process. Oh girl..

?

Via?Busted Coverage

We received a message Friday via the BC hotline from Brandon K. that just happened to notice something fishy going on the day of RGIII?s July 6 wedding.

?

"So I was looking through RGIII?s twitter feed the night of his wedding. ?I followed his RTs to a groomsman of his, William Mallow. ?Going through his twitter feed I found a girl he RT that said she missed him. ?She looked hot so I looked at her feed. ?(@Mere__) ?THat night one of her friends tweeted ?RGIII getting married today. ?Will @Mere__ crash the wedding?? ?She responds immediately with ?I could show Becky this though? ?and its a picture of her text messages with a guy name RgIII in her phone. ?The text show a black guy lifting up his shirt showing a six pack and trying to get her to respond. ?This is 1am July 6th (day of wedding) and then finally gives up after no response from her."

?

?

And Brandon saved the text screen cap

?

?

A little investigating of the Twitter trail from these two tells us that they didn?t just become friends.?@Williermo77?was one of RG3?s groomsmen.

?

?

?

So here's the part where Meredith tried to ask the site Busted Coverage to remove the post. Check out how weird the exchange of emails gets.

?

?

RG3?s buddy William Mallow, who was in his wedding, sends word that Ms. Barber is full of s*** and is just looking to get paid.

"Look I?m going to cut through the BS and just get down to it. We both know that Meredith is looking for attention/money. I know this is what you do for a living and you thought that this would be a golden opportunity but the fact of the matter is that this is completely false. I was with Robert the night in question, and there was zero texting of other girls, much less selfie stomach shots. That isn?t even close to what the bathroom of the suite we were in looked like.

It?s completely unfair to crucify a guy who is a role model to hundreds of thousands of people because all he?s done from day 1 is the right thing. The guy didn?t take a SIP of alcohol during the entire time of the bachelor party in Vegas the weekend before. He?s completely committed and in love with his wife, and would never jeopardize that.

If you want any further information or proof, please let me know. I also have screenshots of Meredith yesterday admitting to me via texts that this was all a joke and that someone grabbed her phone."

?

?

Ironically, Ms. Barber and Mr. Mallow (was in RG3?s wedding) joked about Ms. Barber-fellatio-RG3 back in November. Clearly neither one of these idiots is doing RG3 any favors!

?

?

And then there are also these screenshots that Meredith posted on Instagram...

?

?

?

Okay, these groupies are getting sadder and sadder. First of all, Meredith should have took that little $500 and ran with it because no one is about to pay her to break up RG3's marriage. GIrl bye! Second of all, she already gave up the tea for free, she shouldn't be looking for a pay day anyway. What I can't stand is these girls who send in FREE TEA or post it on Twitter/Instagram, then when people start going in on THEM and the plan doesn't go as they thought it would, they are begging for you to take the post down. Let me tell you right now, don't put ANYTHING on the internet that you don't intend on leaving there. Once it hits the net there is no "yanking it back off". It doesn't work that way. I don't know what fantasy world you live in. With one key stroke that little instagram you put up is now available on Google for eternity. You can delete it all you want, it isn't going anywhere. ?This is why it amazes me that she would act like the texts were lies and her phone was stolen, but still divulge information later on. Clearly a bad case of "Dumb Blonde".

?

Lastly, Mr. Griffin, if you're going to cheat on your girl, be careful who you tell your dirt too. Clearly your best friend/ groomsman has lips just as loose as your side piece. Neither one of them can seem to keep their mouths closed. Shout out to Busted Coverage?for getting to the bottom of all this!

Source: http://www.balleralert.com/xn/detail/2015113%3AComment%3A1646078?xg_source=activity

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Yahoo's 2Q earnings rise 46 pct, revenue sinks

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Yahoo remained stuck in a revenue rut during the second quarter, muting the celebration of CEO Marissa Mayer's first year running the Internet company.

The numbers released Tuesday showed Yahoo Inc.'s earnings are still rising, but they also highlighted the challenges facing the company as it loses ground to rivals Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. in the online advertising market that generates most of their revenue.

Yahoo sold slightly fewer display ads than it did at the same time last year, and the prices that marketers were willing to pay for the space fell by 12 percent, too. The Sunnyvale, Calif., company made some small strides in the Internet ad market dominated by Google, but it still wasn't enough to prevent Yahoo's revenue from slipping in a quarter when the digital ad market in the U.S. increase by 15 percent, based on estimates by the research firm eMarketer.

Google's second-quarter earnings, due out Thursday, are expected to show even more robust growth.

Yahoo's nagging ad headaches initially dragged down the company's stock by more than 2 percent in extended trading, but the selling reversed after management assured investors that it intends to keep buying back the company's stock. The commitment comes after Yahoo had already spent $3.6 billion buying back about 190 million of its shares since last year, fulfilling a pledge that Mayer made shortly after the company realized a $7.6 billion windfall from selling nearly half of its stake in Chinese Internet company Alibaba.

The extension of the share repurchases pleased Wall Street because it should help support Yahoo's stock price in the months ahead. Besides helping to fuel demand for the stock, the repurchases help increase earnings per share by reducing the volume of outstanding stock. Yahoo now has 10 percent fewer shares outstanding than a year ago. The company indicated it may spend another $1.9 billion buying back its stock, which would be enough to take about 70 million more shares off the market at current prices.

As of late Tuesday, Yahoo's stock had gained 22 cents to $27.10 in extended trading. The shares have gained more than 70 percent under Mayer's leadership.

In an unusual live video presentation streamed on Yahoo's website, Mayer focused on other things besides finances while reviewing the company's progress since she defected from a top job at Google a year ago to try to rejuvenate one of the Internet's best-known brands.

Mayer said Yahoo's employee attrition rate is down by 59 percent and innovation in mobile is way up, thanks largely to the 17 acquisitions that she has completed, including a $1.1 billion deal for Internet blogging service Tumblr. Traffic to Yahoo's website is also on the upswing for the first time in more than a year, according to Mayer.

"We have created a new, supercharged Yahoo," she boasted during the video presentation.

Mayer, 38, has gotten a big jolt from Alibaba, a rapidly growing company in which Yahoo invested $1 billion eight years ago in exchange for a 40 percent stake.

After selling part of its holdings back to Alibaba last year, Yahoo still owns a 24 percent stake that is expected to bring in another $10 billion to $20 billion during the next few years.

Alibaba is also lifting Yahoo's ongoing earnings, as the second-quarter report illustrated. Yahoo made more money from its investments in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan during the second quarter than it did from its U.S. operations. That's the second straight quarter that has occurred.

Yahoo earned $331 million, or 30 cents per share, in the three months ending in June. That compared with net income of $227 million, or 18 cents per share, at the same time last year.

If not for certain items unrelated to its ongoing business, Yahoo said it would have earned 35 cents per share. That was a nickel above the average estimate among analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Cost cutting helped boost the earnings. The company's payroll stood at 11,500 workers at the end of June, down by 9 percent over the past year.

Revenue for the period declined 7 percent from the same time last year to $1.14 billion.

After stripping out ad commissions, Yahoo's revenue came to $1.07 billion. That was slightly below analyst projections and marked a 1 percent decline from last year. It's the first time that Yahoo's net revenue has fallen since Mayer took over.

Yahoo is bracing for another possible downturn in the current quarter ending in September. The company predicted its revenue, minus ad commission, will range from $1.06 billion to $1.1 billion. The lower end of that forecast is below net revenue of $1.09 billion at the same time last year. Analysts, on average, had projected revenue of $1.12 billion in the current quarter.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/yahoos-2q-earnings-rise-46-pct-revenue-sinks-202947940.html

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Observatory: Starfish: Keeping an Eye on the Prize

[unable to retrieve full-text content]For a starfish, looking around for food means picking up its arms.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/16/science/eye-on-the-prize.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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